When the call connected and some one picked up on the other end the air suddenly shifted inside the home. Their mom who was always emotionless had a sense of reminiscence in her eyes but she quickly came back to her senses.
"Hello"
"Hello"
"Hello, who is this? If you are not going to speak up i will have to put the phone down" remarked a women from the other side.
"Hello" Kavitha spoke slowly almost too silently, had she not held the mike close to her perhaps it would not be audible to the other side at all.
"Is that you Kavi? Everything alright? How come you remembered this lady after thirteen years? Don't tell me you finally left that Pratap guy, did you?"
Kavitha : "Alright can you stop your bullshitting now Saheri, i am calling you after a decade and this is how you greet me?"
Saheri : "What else do you expect me to do Kavi? send you a sweet box and a shawl for the reunion?"
Kavitha : "Enough already, how are you doing Saheri? Still busy with your experiments?"
Saheri : "Well what else can i do? i can't keep sulking about my bestie leaving me for some random douchebag can i?"
When she mentioned about them being best friends Kavitha's throat ran dry and a trace of tears appeared in corner of her eyes. But noticing her kids crowded around her she snapped back. She had to, she did not want to burden the kids with her baggage.
Saheri : "Alright tell me your purpose of call Kavi, i am pretty sure you would not call me for some chit chat. Neither you nor i have so much free time anyway. Tell me what you want and let's get this done with."
Kavitha : "Do you still work at the same research center Saheri?"
"Of course i did'nt work my ass off just to leave everything and run away with someone did i?" shot back Saheri.
Kavitha then proceeded to explain her purpose of reaching out to Saheri, She mentioned how her son Arjun had packaged various milk products and other juices and was looking to start a production and packaging facility.
Kavitha explained how they were struck at obtaining food safety and production permits without the news getting leaked to major manufacturers.
"I thought so, you wouldn't contact me without needing anything in return, well i will be visiting Vijayawada on this Monday, let Arjun visit me with the sample packets and the company registration papers, I will take care of the rest. But it might take a couple of weeks to get the permits." Saheri replied and gave details about the place she was going to stay at.
Kavitha started thanking her for the help to which Saheri shot back angrily "shut up Kavi we are not so distant to start thanking each other. Alright i am putting the phone down now. I am quite busy unlike some housewife in a remote village."
Once she put the phone down Kavitha figured she had some explaining to do. Madan had already left to check out some company papers once the call was done.
Only Sari and Arjun left around her waiting for an explanation. She understood her kids too well, even though Sari might not care about the call and was more curios about whom she spoke with, Arjun was a different case. He was too perceptive, Even though she liked this side of her son, at times like this she would prefer if he'd be a bit more dumb.
Kavitha explained that Saheri was her childhood best friend and they had grown up together. She went on to do her degree in designing while Saheri had pursued Chemistry in a major college and went on to become a scientist at an international institute in Hyderabad. By now she remarked Saheri would be in a high position in the institute and figured she would be helpful in their endeavor.
Kavitha mentioned about Saheri visiting Vijayawada on the upcoming Monday and asked Arjun to carry some samples of the packets and reach out to her. As Arjun kept staring at her with a questioning gaze, she simply returned to her table and carried on with the drawing book.
Arjun understood his mother was not going spill the beans and left to gather his thoughts. He sat in his usual beachside position and started to think deeper into it. But the more he thought about it there were more questions than answers pertaining to his mother.
Her nonchalance towards money, Even when she learned Arjun had made a profit of more than two lakh rupees there was just a bit of pride in her eyes but nothing more. Her call with Saheri raised even more questions, how could such people who grew up together be experiencing such different lives. Especially during these times when women were only recently getting integrated into society, Saheri being in such a high position was very intriguing.
As Arjun was lost in his thoughts it was already dark. He came to a decision whatever might have happened in the past, she was his mother and that was that. He was sure Kavitha would open up once she felt it was the right time. He was very happy with her recent transformation and did not want her to be bogged down by his needless questions.
The next day Arjun informed Shiva Ram to prepare some more samples at least ten packets of each drink. He mentioned he needed these to submit them to the food safety bureau for verification. Shiva Ram readily accepted the task and informed Arjun they would be ready by the next day and he could collect them any time he needed them.
The next few days went on pretty uneventfully with Arjun, Karan and Pratap busy at the press and Kavitha and Sari busy at the home. Even though everyone at the family was busy with their own stuff, Arjun was slowly starting to feel their family growing more closer. Arjun liked this feeling a lot, He had never experienced such feeling in his past life and did not want to lose it again. He became even more resolute to reach heights he never could reach in his past life.
It was finally weekend. Arjun together with Karan, Bhargav and Pratap left to Vijayawada along with the remaining Previous year question booklets and answer books they had to submit to Ravi to complete their final delivery.
Once they reached Vijayawada Arjun and Karan left with the transport trucks towards Mannath distribution center while Bhargav and Pratap left to finish the company registration process. This time the company was going to be entirely registered in the name of Pratap so Arjun warned him to thoroughly check the documents before signing them.
When Ravi saw Arjun arriving with the final delivery he was a bit disappointed.
Had they delayed for another couple of days according to their agreement he would receive the shipment for free. But whatever it was not like he was making any losses.
Ravi invited both the kids to his room and offered them drinks before starting to explain about the sales details. He mentioned most of the previously delivered books were already sold out. He remarked that the kids liked their book design a lot but exclaimed most of the publishers would probably take inspiration from these designs for their next year publications.
He went on to order another batch of thirty thousand copies of Previous year question paper booklets and five thousand copies of solution books. He reasoned these would be enough for this year as the exams were already closing in and most people who would purchase books for the exam would buy them at least two weeks ahead of exams.
Arjun too understood this point and readily agreed to the deal. They signed another agreement similar to the last one where Arjun had to deliver the books within next two weeks. Ravi mentioned he would do the payment for the current shipment on their next visit as it would make things much simpler.
Meanwhile Pratap and Bhargav went to the registration office where the officers were very welcoming to them once they learned Madan was their backer. Pratap took over an hour to read every part of the document to make sure everything was correct before signing them.
Finally Sarun foods company was successfully established. Pratap was very happy with his sons naming sense. He felt only people closely associated with their family would understand it's meaning while most others would treat it as any normal company name.
They met up with kids at the hotel ilapuram where they had previously stayed. After their lunch Arjun went ahead to book a double room for himself and Bhargav for two days while Karan and Pratap left for the village as the local bus only made two trips and if they miss it they too had to stay with them till the next day. The jeep they had come in would stay with Bhargav as he had more errands to run for Madan on the next day.